The Invisibility Factor
by boswifedeb
Summary: Just as Matt and CJ are about to begin getting the Houston Ranch in Texas back up and running cattle, he has a request for help. Homeless people are disappearing, but because of their transient lifestyle the police aren't much help. Rated M for violence and adult situations. Not my characters, just taking them out for a ride once again.
1. Chapter 1

**The Invisibility Factor**

**This story immediately follows "Childhood Gone"****

**CHAPTER 1**

"What's the matter: are you afraid I'll run the business into the ground?" Roy Houston knew that wasn't why his nephew Matt had called.

"No, Uncle Roy, you know better than that. Just wanted to touch base with you and see how it was going." Matt Houston was kicked back in the den of the house that he had grown up in just outside of Houston, Texas. He had been there for the last couple of weeks with his wife of eight and half months, CJ. He was about to start working on all of the fencing and repairs that needed to be done so that he could start running cattle on the ranch once again.

"Everything is just fine. I helped out Michael with a case last Friday, nothing too serious though. And I've won a couple of bids for security systems and am going to start on one of them today. Pretty easy stuff." The Michael that Roy was referring to was one of Matt and CJ's best friends: Lt. Michael Hoyt of the LAPD. The Houstons were often called in to consult on cases and had helped out the department many times over the years.

Matt got up and walked into the kitchen to refill his coffee cup. "Sounds like you're making the best of it." He was taking time off from the agency for a couple of reasons: he wanted to reassure CJ, who was two and half months pregnant with their first child, that he wasn't planning on getting himself killed anytime soon. Secondly, he was trying to decide if he wanted to give up the detective agency altogether. After being involved in a Middle East mission with the Navy SEALs in which he took a bullet to the shoulder, Matt was re-evaluating his life.

"And what about you? Have you gotten started on that fencing yet?" Roy refilled his coffee cup at the bar and stepped out onto the patio of the penthouse offices of Houston Investigations in Los Angeles.

"I'm just about to do that in…" Matt checked his watch. "Fifteen minutes. I've got some help on the way over here."

"Did you ever decide what kind of cattle you're going to go with?" Roy had never been involved in ranching but he and Matt had discussed several aspects of it over the last few years – especially while on stake outs.

"I believe I'm going to have a cross – Brahman bull with Gelbvieh cows. Bulls I should say. I'm going to divide the ranch into two herds: one will be spring calving and the other fall calving." Matt had spent a lot of time thinking about just what kind of cattle he wanted and had come to the decision in the last couple of days.

"Should work good for that area – they're both pretty heat resistant aren't they?" What little Roy knew of the subject his nephew had taught him.

"Yep. That's a big part of the reason I'm going with them. Plus Gelbviehs are usually good mamas." He walked out onto the back deck of the house and looked around.

"Speaking of good mamas – how's CJ doing?"

"She's great." Matt looked around to make sure he wouldn't be overheard by his wife. "And her belly is sure getting bigger."

Roy chuckled. "She's going to be a great mama, boy, mark my words."

"I know she will. But she sure is sensitive about her belly. I've told her I think it's sexy – but she doesn't believe me."

"Just keep telling her. Well, I better get some work done around here before the boss finds out."

"Yeah, somehow I don't think you've got too much to worry about. Take care of yourself and tell Hoyt I said hello." He hung up the phone and went to find CJ. She was coming down stairs and he met her at the bottom, pulling her into his arms and planting a kiss on her lips.

"Well, what brought that on?" She was a little surprised by the sudden attack, but pleased nonetheless.

"I can't help it – there's a sexy woman here who's just begging to be kissed." He kissed her again, this one a little more intense than the last. CJ wrapped her arms around his neck and as Matt broke the kiss he ran his fingers through her hair, smiling down at her.

"Begging to be kissed, huh? I don't remember begging." She rubbed the three day growth of beard on his face. "Decided not to shave again I see. Is this beard going to be permanent?"

"Don't know. Guess it depends on how hot I get out there working on the fences." Matt gave her a gentle little kiss. "I'm heading down to the barn now to get the tools together. Guess I'll see you at lunch."

"Are you taking a rifle with you?" She was concerned because of the amount of copperheads that had been around the area lately.

"No ma'am. Gonna take a pistol with me." He headed toward the gun case in the den and pulled out a H&K P30L pistol and checked the magazine, then picked up an extra – just in case. He gave his wife another kiss and then went down on one knee and kissed her belly. "You two girls behave while I'm gone."

"Nope, I'm telling you it's a boy." They had argued back and forth ever since finding out she was pregnant.

"Nope, girl. When are you supposed to do the ultrasound?"

"In about a month – and then you're going to see that I'm right." She watched as he put his mouth right next to the baby.

"You keep your mama out of trouble for me, little lady – and I know you are no matter what she says." He looked up at CJ and grinned, then stood up giving her a peck on the cheek, and headed out the back door. He took the truck to the barn and started loading the equipment he was going to need.

Hearing the sound of an engine, Matt looked up to see his help arriving: Chuck Wylie. The two men had gone through school together and played on the baseball team in high school. Chuck was now a deputy with the Harris County Sheriff's Department – and also married and the father of five children. When Matt had asked if he would like a side job helping him work on the fences at the ranch, the deputy jumped on the opportunity. He knew the extra money would be a help to his family and he also knew that he and Houston would have a good time working together.

"Right on time, bud." Matt threw the last of the equipment into the back of the truck and the pair got in and started out to work. "So how are Lisa and the kids?"

"Fine. And at home. And I'm not." He looked over at Matt and grinned. "I love 'em to death, but peace and quiet is hard to come by."

"I don't doubt it." Matt was looking forward to having a few kids running around the house. He had grown up as an only child and was lonely at times.

"How about CJ?"

"She's doing real good. Complaining about the size of her belly though. I just keep telling her it's sexy." He looked over at Chuck and smiled.

"You figured out the answer to that problem all on your own, huh? You always were pretty smart – especially with the ladies. Tell me something, though: why in the hell did it take you two so long to get together?"

"Stupidity." Matt chuckled. "We had been best friends for so long that we were afraid to cross that line. We depended on each other so much through the years, you know? But then the feelings just kept getting stronger and I finally told myself, "Hey Dummy, if you know you can't live without her, you need to marry her!"

Chuck burst into laughter. "You've always been a smart one except for when it came to CJ. Man, everybody has known for years that you two were in love. Hell, I knew that right after you introduced us back when we were all ten years old!"

"Yeah, I know, I'm stupid. But at least I finally figured it out." He pulled up to the first section of fence that needed to be replaced. "All right, here we go. Time to get to work."

When noon rolled around, Matt and Chuck went up to the house. Madre Rosa, the housekeeper who had practically raised Matt, had fixed beef fajitas for their lunch. After stuffing themselves, they headed back out to the fencing job. The morning had been fairly cool due to cloud cover, but the afternoon turned hot and humid. By 3:00, both men were out of their shirts and having a hard time seeing what they were doing because of the sweat running in their eyes. They completed a section of fence and Matt leaned back against the truck as he took a drink. He looked over at Chuck. "Ya know we're not too far from the river."

"Yep." The deputy was trying to wipe the sweat off of his face.

"Might be a cool breeze coming off the water down there about now."

"Yep."

Matt put the top back on the bottle he had been drinking from and started loading the tools in the back of the truck. Chuck followed suit and in a couple of minutes they were driving on up the fence row.

"Uh, pard, you missed a section there." Chuck was pointing behind the truck.

Matt nodded. "Yep, that one's gonna wait. We need to cool off." He looked over at Chuck and grinned.

"That's good 'cause for just a little bit more I think I was gonna melt." The deputy started laughing. "I'm surprised you aren't going fishing."

"Who says I'm not?" Matt grinned. They pulled in under the oak tree that was one of Matt's favorite spots and after they got out of the truck, Matt flipped the seat forward and pulled out two fishing rods and a small cooler with night crawlers.

Chuck just rolled his eyes. "Guess it's a good thing my new boss is a fishaholic."

"Yup." Matt handed him one of the rods and they plopped down on the bank and baited their hooks, then cast out into the river. They started talking about marriage, women, kids, and the need for some peace and quiet on occasions. After thirty minutes of no hook ups, Matt reeled in and checked his bait. It was still intact with no signs of being nibbled on. "Huh. That's a first." He cast back out in a different spot as Chuck reeled in and checked his bait. His was exactly the same.

"That's weird; we always have at least one fish by this point." He and Matt used to fish that spot in the river quite often as kids.

"Yeah, I've never gone home empty handed but I've got a feeling that streak is about to end. Wonder what's going on?"

"I don't know. It's just weird."

At 4:00 they had to admit their first defeat. They loaded up in the truck and headed back to the house when Chuck broke the silence. "You're not going to tell CJ are you?"

Matt snickered. "Are you kidding? I'd never hear the end of it." They both laughed. "Are you off again tomorrow?"

"Sure am. Do you want some help again?"

"Yup. And we're also going to try to get rid of this bad luck we've had this afternoon. I demand a rematch with those fish."

Chuck started laughing. "I had a feeling I was going to hear that."


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

Ollie Burckhardt was sitting next to a dumpster behind the strip mall. He had been living out on the streets of Houston for the last nine years and managed to survive through Hurricane Ike in 2008. It had forced him to live for a short time on top of a fast food restaurant. That had been the roughest time he had endured so far.

He watched as a van came up the alley and stopped about fifty feet down from him. Two men got out and walked over to Clarence Otto, a friend of Ollie's who also lived in this alley. After being beaten a few times since being homeless, Ollie had learned how to make himself almost invisible. He didn't know why, but the arrival of the two men in the van had made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. Very quietly, he moved further behind the dumpster. He could hear Clarence talking to the two men about a job. After a couple of minutes, he saw his friend climb into the back of the van and it took off.

Ollie didn't take jobs from people who drove up and asked if he wanted to work. On a couple of occasions he had – and those were the times that he had found himself beaten up. He had taken odd jobs off and on the whole time he had been homeless, but most of them were just temporary except for the one that he had now. It had been almost two years since he first approached the owner of the restaurant a couple of blocks up from the alley that Ollie called home. Frank Desmond had owned the restaurant for fourteen years and often helped out the homeless who lived nearby with either food or money. Once when Ollie had a case of pneumonia, Desmond had gotten him to a free clinic for medicine and even rented him a hotel room until he was well again.

Part of Ollie's work for Desmond consisted of taking out the trash, sweeping the sidewalk in front of the restaurant, and keeping the parking lot cleaned up. He took pride in the work he did and made sure that the areas were spotless. In return, Frank paid him $30 a week and gave him free meals.

As it began to get dark, Ollie's fears for Clarence increased. The thought had occurred to him that most people would want someone to work for them during the day – they wouldn't be coming by late in the afternoon to pick up help. He just had a bad feeling about the situation.

Later that night in an office across town there was a meeting going on. "What do you mean you only got one?" The boss sat back in his chair and looked at the men that he had entrusted to do the job. "I'm not paying you to just get one of 'em at a time." He threw the newspaper on the desk.

"Yes sir." The taller of the two men shifted uncomfortably in the chair.

"I've spent a lot of time and money on this. It WILL happen. And if the two of you and your helpers can't make it happen, then I'll find somebody else who can. Guess where that will put you?" He leaned forward with his elbows on the desk.

"Yes sir." Both men answered that time.

"Now get the hell out of here and get the job done or the two of you will be the next job. Got it?"

"Yes sir." The two men took off out the door and headed back out in search of more victims.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

Matt and CJ settled into the recliner in the den after a dinner of fried chicken. They were trying to decide what movie to watch when the house shook from an extremely loud clap of thunder. It wasn't unusual, especially in the late summer months, for thunderstorms to bubble up from out of nowhere. After the heat and humidity of the afternoon, plus the close proximity of the Gulf of Mexico, it happened quite frequently. Both of them had gotten used to the weather in California, where rain was rare.

Just as Matt turned on the TV there was another loud clap of thunder, this one accompanied by a flash of lightening that they saw and then the power went out. "Wonder how long this will last?" CJ turned her head to look at Matt, whose lap she was sitting in.

"Don't know, but I do plan to take advantage of it." He pulled her closer and kissed her. Just then Madre Rosa walked to the door shining a flashlight on the couple. "Oh, Dios mios! Did you…oops, sorry!" She started to laugh and turn away.

Matt chuckled. "Come on back in here and sit down. Talk to us for a little while. How is your daughter doing these days?"

Rosa walked on in and sat on the couch, turning off the flashlight. "She's doing very well. She and her husband Rico are living in town now. He's working on one of the oil rigs in the Gulf."

"Now the last time we talked about her, she was expecting a second baby, am I right?" Matt remembered Rosita from when they were kids and she would come help her mother around the Houston house.

"Yes, she had another little boy. They named him Travis."

"So what else has been going on with them lately?"

"Not much. Rosita works at a restaurant in town – you know how she loves to cook."

"Well, if she can cook half as good as you she's doing just fine." Matt had grown up eating every kind of food imaginable. Rosa loved to cook all kinds of food: Mexican, Cajun, and what most folks in the area referred to as Southern.

"How is Rosa Novelli? I haven't heard from her in a while. She told me last time that we spoke that the restaurant was doing very well and that she stayed busy."

"It's booming. When most restaurants have an afternoon lull, they are still going full steam. We were there not too long ago. And she still makes a killer lasagna."

"She is such a nice lady. And so proud of her grandsons!"

"But you are, too." CJ had piped in on this last bit. Rosa had been showing her pictures of her two grandsons earlier in the day.

"Well, any grandmother likes to brag."

The lights came back on and Matt turned on the TV. After surfing through all the channels he looked at CJ. "Over two hundred channels and there's nothing fit to watch." He turned the set back off. There was another loud clap of thunder and flash of lightening and the lights went back off. "Just as well," he said, sounding disgusted.

"That's okay, it's nice to just sit and talk." CJ snuggled in closer to her husband.

"Have you two been thinking about baby names?" Rosa was excited at the prospect of having a baby around the house again.

"Yes, we're leaning toward William after Bill, but we've gotten stuck on a middle name."

"You're stuck on the wrong sex, CJ. It's a girl." Matt held his ground.

"Matt, why do you keep doing that?"

"Because it's a girl." They both laughed.

The next morning was hot and humid. As much as Matt liked working around the ranch, he knew it was going to be a tough day as humid as it was. He loaded down a cooler with water and sports drinks and was ready to go when Chuck pulled in.

They headed back out to the area where they had left off the day before and started back in on the fencing job. By noon, both men were out of their shirts and had sweat pouring off of them again when they headed to the house. They walked into the kitchen and CJ was waiting for them with a big pitcher of lemonade and some Texas sized submarine sandwiches. Matt stopped when he saw it on the table and turned to Chuck. "And that is another reason to love her." Both of them laughed and sat down to eat.

CJ looked at the two of them. "Well I guess it's a good thing Rosa isn't here today – I don't know if her heart could take this or not."

"What?" Matt looked up at her.

"Two bare chested, sweaty, muscled up men, that's what!" She laughed as Matt and Chuck just looked at each other.

"As bad as we smell all she could do is look." Matt went back to eating. The phone rang and he got up to answer it. "Houston."

"Oh good, I was hoping you would be there." It was Madre Rosa. "Do you think you could come talk to someone later on today?"

"I guess so, who is it?" Matt was puzzled.

"His name is Ollie Burckhardt. He's a homeless man who does odd jobs for Rosita's boss, Frank Desmond. Last night two men pulled up in a van and talked a friend of his into going with them to do a job and he hasn't come back yet."

Matt was still puzzled. "Has he talked to the police?"

"No, he says they won't do anything because his friend is homeless – he could have just moved on to another spot. But Ollie says that Clarence wouldn't have left behind his belongings no matter what."

"Okay, when and where do you want me to talk to him?"

"The restaurant would probably be the best place. It's the La Bandera – and whenever you think you can."

Matt considered it for a minute. "Tell you what, I'll be there at 1:30, is that okay? I've got to get a shower before I do anything else."

"That would be perfect. I'll tell Rosita. Thank you, Matt."

He hung up the phone. CJ had only heard his end of the conversation and was giving him a questioning look. As he sat back down, he explained the situation. Chuck looked slightly uncomfortable when Matt told the part about the police.

"You really can't blame them, Houston. Those folks pack up and move around all the time."

"Yeah, but this guy didn't pack up his stuff. That's why Burckhardt thinks something's wrong – he went off and left his stuff."

Chuck looked a little surprised. "Well that does change things. Tell you what, I'll go shower when we get done here and I'll meet you. Where is this restaurant?"


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

Matt and CJ pulled up in front of the La Bandera restaurant just as Chuck parked and got out of his truck. As they headed toward the door, Matt looked over at his friend. "Well I guess you smell better but you sure don't look any better." Chuck reached up and slapped him in the back of the head while CJ just giggled at the pair.

Once inside, they were met by Frank Desmond. He led them back to the kitchen where he introduced them to Ollie Burckhardt. After hearing the story straight from him they decided to take a look around where Clarence had been when the two men picked him up. Ollie rode with Chuck down to the alley and they listened as he told them once again exactly what had been said and what had happened. They looked where Clarence had stashed his belongings.

"What exactly did this van look like, Mr. Burckhardt?" Chuck had pulled a notebook out of his pocket.

"It was a Chevy, white, with the sliding door on the side. I don't know what year, but I'd say it was maybe ten years old – not new. I didn't see a license plate, but there was a picture of a tree on the door." The deputy had written down the information.

Matt looked over his shoulder at Bernhardt. "What does Clarence look like? Do you remember what he was wearing?"

"Clarence is about five six or so, small build, with white hair. He's about fifty five and weighs maybe a hundred and ten soaking wet. He was wearing a pair of tan carpenter pants and a black t-shirt with an ace of spades on the front."

"What about the two guys? Did you get a look at them?" Matt was still walking around checking out the area.

"Yeah, they were both white, probably 25 to 30 years old. Short haircuts, not as short as the Army but pretty close. Both of 'em had on jeans and one guy had on a white t-shirt with a flag on it. The other one was wearing one of those chartreuse t-shirts you see."

"Did you notice their faces? Mustache, beard, anything like that?" Matt had stopped looking and was standing back by Ollie.

"No, both of 'em were clean shaven. And the one with the chartreuse shirt was wearing a dark blue ball cap. It had something written on the front but I couldn't make it out from down there." He indicated the dumpster that he had hidden behind.

"Which way did they turn at the end of the alley when they left?" Chuck clicked his ball point pen as he talked.

"They went toward the left, down there at that end." Ollie indicated the east end of the alley.

"Well Mr. Burckhardt, you're a darn good witness." Matt shook his hand. He gave him one of his business cards and put the phone number for the Houston house on the back. "I'm staying at this number right now. If you see or hear anything else, or think of anything else, anything at all, call me, okay?"

Burckhardt eyed the business card then looked at Matt and nodded his head. Chuck stuck out his hand and shook with Ollie, who said, "You ain't too bad – for a cop." Chuck was taken by surprise.

"You do look like a cop, Chuck." CJ grinned at the astounded look on his face.

"Yep, you do. Too bad you didn't smell like bacon this morning when we were working on that fence." Matt put his arm around CJ, then walked over to his truck and opened the door for her. Ollie stood there laughing as Chuck just shrugged his shoulders. "If you hear anything call him and he'll get in contact with me, alright?" He headed to his own truck and they left.

"So, what do you think? It's going to be hard to work, isn't it?" CJ was looking at Matt as he drove.

"Yeah, I'm afraid it is. And Ollie was right; the police don't usually do much when a homeless person disappears. But it's a two-sided coin: if someone is homeless, then how do you know if they aren't there? Just a bad situation all the way around."

"So what's your plan?"

"I'm not sure. The best thing we've got so far is the description of the van – that tree on the door and the guy wearing the chartreuse shirt…kinda sounds like a tree service. I think my first step will be to go home and pull out the laptop to check out the logos of the local tree trimming companies." He reached over and patted on CJ's leg. Neither one said anything for a minute. "Here we go again." Matt shook his head.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm investigating again." He looked over at her. "Guess I'm just hopeless, huh?"

"No, you're a good guy who is very good at his job, Matt." She squeezed his hand.


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

As soon as they got back to the house, Matt pulled out the laptop that he had brought with him and started researching the local tree trimming businesses. Unfortunately for him, several used green trees for a logo. "Guess I'll have to get with Ollie and show him these logos. Maybe he could pick out the right one – but the majority of them all look the same." There was no reply. He looked over at CJ who was curled up on the couch asleep. Matt smiled as he got up and picked up the afghan on the back of the couch and covered her up, lightly kissing the top of her head. He went back to the recliner and picked up the computer again, trying to think of anything else that he could do for the investigation. Since he would have the laptop with him when he talked to Ollie, he decided to download pictures of Chevy vans from the last fifteen years. Maybe their witness would spot something that would help narrow down the year.

Matt looked at his watch: 3:15. He got up, went into the kitchen and fixed some sandwiches and filled a thermos with iced tea. When CJ woke up, the two of them could go down to the river and maybe he wouldn't get skunked again like he had the day before. While he waited, Matt walked out onto the back deck and sat down on the swing to think. That was part of the reason that he had come back home to Texas: to think about his life and what direction he wanted to go in. Somehow, that direction seemed to be leading him right back to where he had been: being a private investigator. CJ was right, he was darn good at his job and it was something that he usually enjoyed doing. Now and then a case came along that was particularly gruesome. There had been several over the last few years that had made him question his choice of profession. But when it was all said and done, it was a job that he really did love doing. He just didn't like the fact that he got shot at, more these days it seemed than ever before.

Lt. Michael Hoyt had made a point not too long ago saying that the "gig" was a lot more dangerous than it used to be. Matt had to agree with him to a point. But was it really more dangerous or did Matt just notice it more these days – because now he actually had something – or rather someone – to live for? And now another someone on the way. He smiled as he thought about the baby. CJ kept asking him why he was so sure it was a girl and Matt really didn't have a reason – it was just a gut feeling.

He stood up and walked into the kitchen, pouring himself a cup of coffee. As he leaned against the kitchen counter, it occurred to him how big the house really was – and how empty it felt. Then he imagined how it would be with a few kids running through it. Chuck had reached the point with his family that he wanted some peace and quiet, while Matt had reached the point in his where he welcomed the sound of kids laughing and playing. He wouldn't have believed it was possible three years ago. Boy, had he changed! And it was a change for the better. It dawned on him how much happier he was these days. Walking back into the den he saw that CJ had moved slightly and the afghan that had been covering her was now only over her feet. He reached for it and brought it back up over her and thought about just how lucky he was to have her for his wife. Any other woman wouldn't be able to put up with his job and the crazy things that happened in his life. CJ had been there with him through everything since they were ten years old. She knew everything about him: his strengths, his weaknesses, everything. _And she still loves you in spite of it all, _he thought to himself. _She's one hell of a woman._

By 4:15, CJ was up and awake looking around the house for Matt. She found him upstairs in the bedroom that they were using that was his room from the time he had moved in until the day he moved out on his own. Bill had left it alone, and everything was the same as it had been when he left – including the posters that he had hung on the walls in his teenage years. When CJ walked in and found him she stopped in her tracks. The posters were gone. Matt looked up at her and grinned.

"Where did all your ladies go?"

"To the trashcan. I don't need 'em anymore, I've got a real lady now." He leaned over and gave her a kiss. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine, guess I dozed off."

"Being pregnant can do that to you, I hear." He patted her belly. "What have you got planned for this afternoon?"

"Not a thing. You?"

"Feel up to going to the river and fishing some?"

"Let's go." The pair headed back downstairs where Matt pulled the picnic goodies out of the fridge and put them in a cooler, then locked up the house. They got in the truck and headed down toward the river.

CJ looked at the sections of fence that Matt and Chuck had repaired. "You guys have made a lot of progress in a day and a half. It looks good."

"Thanks. We sure did sweat enough out here, I can tell you that." They reached the river in a few more minutes and started fishing for bluegills. After getting several, they moved on up to the spot where he and Chuck had fished the day before and come up empty handed. After thirty minutes without a bite, he and CJ reeled in and checked their bait: nothing.

"That's weird." CJ looked over at Matt who nodded. They both cast out to slightly different areas with the same results. "That has never happened before. We've always caught fish here."

"Yeah, except for yesterday." Matt looked over at his wife with a grin. "Chuck and I came down here yesterday afternoon to cool off a little bit – and fish of course."

"And you didn't catch anything?"

"Nope, not even a nibble." They were both quiet. "Something is going on. That just never happens – not here."

They sat there in silence for a little while until they heard a noise. "What in the heck is that?" CJ looked up and down the river, not seeing a thing.

"I don't know. Sounds like some kind of any engine. It's not a boat." Matt stood up and walked out onto the point that was a little ways away. "Sounds like it's coming from the other side, up that way." He motioned back to his left and CJ stood and looked down that way.

"Can't see anything, but it sure is loud." They decided to eat the picnic that Matt had packed and then try their luck again. After they had been back fishing for half an hour they still didn't have any bites.

"I think I'm going to call it quits for the day." He reeled in as did CJ. The pair walked up to the point and looked up and down the river. The engine that they had been hearing was shut off and the normal sounds of nature took back over. Matt looked at his wife and shrugged his shoulders. "It's weird is all I can say." She nodded and they both headed for the truck and went back to the house for the night.


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6**

Matt was up bright and early the next day and was sitting in the kitchen drinking coffee when Madre Rosa came in. He told her about talking with Ollie Burckhardt the day before and what a good witness he was, and how he was going to go talk to him again. He wanted to see if he could pick out the logo that was on the van and maybe narrow down the model year.

"It sounds like you are right on top of it." She went about her work, and a short time later CJ found her way down to the kitchen. After telling Rosa good morning she walked over behind Matt and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Are you working on the fence today or are you going to go talk to Ollie again?" She made herself a cup of tea and sat down next to Matt, who leaned back in his chair and put his arm around her.

"I'm going to go talk to Ollie. Chuck has to work today, but if I hit a dead end on the deal with looking for Clarence I'll probably go work on the fence."

"Can you do that by yourself?" She knew that the wire would have to be stretched and that it usually was easier to have two people working on it.

"Yep, I've got a little trick that I use – it's called the truck." He snickered. "I figured that one out when I was sixteen."

"Have you thought about who you're going to hire to work the cattle when you're not here?"

"Yep. I've got a couple of folks in mind. Guess maybe I should get to hopping on that." He got up and poured another cup of coffee and looked at his watch. "As a matter of fact, I might as well do that first and then go talk to Ollie." He sat back down and rubbed CJ's shoulders.

"Alright now, you're gonna make me go back to sleep if you do that." She leaned over and put her head on his chest and he raised her chin up and gave her a kiss. Rosa stood there watching the two of them, smiling.

After Matt finished his coffee he gave CJ a kiss goodbye, picked up his laptop, and headed out to track down some help for the ranch. He knew of two brothers who had worked ranches around the area and had been told they currently were unemployed. The owner of the ranch where they had last worked had sold out and they were out of jobs.

As he pulled up to the house where the Hoffmann brothers lived, he was greeted by both men as they came out on the porch. "How you fellas doing?"

"Pretty good. I heard you were back in town – and with a wife to boot." Pat stepped down and shook Matt's hand.

"Yep. CJ and I got married a few months back."

"And I heard that there's a little one on the way." Marty stepped down beside his younger brother and also shook Matt's hand.

"Yep, sure is. We've been arguing back and forth about whether it's a boy or girl. I'm saying girl."

Both brothers looked surprised. "So what brings you over here this morning, Houston?" Marty led the way back up on the porch and Matt leaned against the railing.

"Well, I heard you fellas were looking for a new job – and I'm looking for some experienced help."

"Are you now?" Pat exchanged a look with Marty. "What are your plans?"

"I'm gonna run two herds – Brahman bulls and Gelbvieh cows – one herd spring calvers and one herd fall calvers." Matt watched the reactions and was happy with what he saw.

Marty nodded. "Sounds like some smart thinking. What's the offer?"

"Well, I want you to hear the whole deal before you decide. I won't be around all the time, so I need somebody I can depend on to take charge and get the job done. Whatever comes up, I need to know that I can count on 'em. Free room and board, full health insurance coverage, and $50,000 a year."

The brothers looked at each other. Marty nodded his head. "Will there be anybody else working there besides the two of us?"

"Not exactly – not right away. I've got Chuck Wylie helping me now with repairing fences – but he's a deputy and doesn't have a whole lot of time off. So until we get the place ready for cattle, it would just be the four of us, with Chuck only there a couple of days a week."

"Okay, after we get the spread ready to work – then how many?" Marty was pretty sure that Pat would want to take the job and he did as well, but he wanted to be sure there would be enough help.

"Well, that's a good question. We really wouldn't need a whole lot of help most of the time. I'm thinking maybe one other person and then temporary help when we need to round up." Matt knew it was a better than average offer, but he also knew that the Hoffmann brothers were better than average cowboys who took their jobs seriously. "And if you two think we need more help after we get going, I would be open to the possibility."

Marty and Pat looked at each other and smiled. "That sounds like a great plan, Houston. And I know you're a good man to work for – just like your daddy was. I'm in, what about you, Pat?"

"Hell, you're the only fool Mama ever raised, you know I'm in." He shook Matt's hand. "When do we start?"

"How about tomorrow? I've got something else that I'm taking care of today, but I hope to be back to work on the fencing tomorrow. Oh, and there's one more thing: the old bunkhouse is in pretty good shape, but I think it could use a little work, too. Paint, carpet, stuff like that."

The brothers looked at each other. "I believe we can throw that in for free, what do you think, Marty?" Pat was ready to load his gear in his truck and leave right then.

"Yep, but we get to pick the colors." All three cracked up.

"I don't care what colors you pick – but you'll have to live with 'em." Matt chuckled.

"Alright, we'll get our gear together today and be there tomorrow at 7:00 am. Sound good to you?" Marty couldn't wait to get started.

"Fine with me. Oh and one more thing: I'm going to be bringing in a few more horses. I'm all for being modern but sometimes you just can't beat a horse when it comes to some jobs. Do y'all have your own?"

"Sure do. Got a couple of real nice quarter horses that we didn't get to use much on the last job. That fella was a transplant – from New York if you can believe it. I think we're gonna get along just fine on this job – you think like we do."

"All right then, I'll see you boys tomorrow. I'll get CJ started on the paperwork and we'll get you signed up in the morning." Matt walked down to the truck and headed for Frank Desmond's restaurant. He dialed the house and CJ answered the phone.

"Hey babe, I've got a little job for you. Can you draw up a couple of contracts for Marty and Pat Hoffmann? $50,000 a year, full insurance, free room and board."

"Wow, that's a good deal, can I sign on?" CJ knew that the Hoffmann brothers were some of the best cowboys around and that they were hard workers. Matt had scored a big win in getting them.

"You're already signed up, remember?" He was looking forward to getting the ranch up and running again.

"Okay, I'll get right on it. When will they start?"

"Tomorrow morning, 7:00 am." Matt sounded pretty happy and CJ could understand why. "Gotta go. I'll call you when I get done here. Love you, babe."

"Love you, too. Be careful." She hung up the phone and then went into the study to use the computer in there to draw up the contracts.


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7**

Matt pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant just before 10:00 am. He knew that they opened at 11:00 and figured that Ollie would be cleaning up the parking lot before the lunch crowd came. He was right. As he got out of the truck, Burckhardt looked up and saw him. "Good morning. Did Clarence come back last night?"

Ollie shook his head no. He looked extremely worried. "Nope. No sign of him at all."

"Well I was sure hoping. I need you to take a look at some pictures for me and see if you can recognize the logo and maybe the year of the van."

Frank Desmond unlocked the front door for the two of them. "Good morning, Mr. Houston."

Matt shook hands with him. "Just drop the mister part, okay?" Desmond smiled as he led them inside and relocked the door. They went back and sat down at a table and Matt pulled up the logos for Ollie to look through. After a few minutes he had narrowed it down to five companies. Then Matt showed him the pictures of the vans. He picked out the one that was nine years old.

"That looks the most like what I saw."

Matt looked. It was the 2003 model. "Okay, that narrows it down quite a bit. Have you thought of anything else that might help us?"

"No, I've told you everything." Ollie took a sip of coffee.

Matt looked over at Burckhardt. "Mr. Burckhardt, I was thinking yesterday that you reminded me of somebody but I can't quite put my finger on who."

The homeless man grinned. "I wondered if you would remember. Think back to the days when you used to do bull riding."

Matt thought for a minute, then a grin spread across his face. "I'll be…you were the bullfighter who helped me that time in Amarillo – when I got hung up. Wow! I'd like to thank you." He shook the man's hand. "You know that was the only time that ever happened – thank God. Once was bad enough. I don't remember too much about it after I got out of the ring. That old bull rang my chimes real good. Couldn't see straight for a week after that."

"Yeah, the last I saw of you, you were out cold in the walkway behind the chute. And that little lady that you're married to was all upset and so was your daddy."

Matt shook his head and chuckled. "I got read the riot act after that. Daddy threatened to keep me out of the rodeo…but he didn't." He smiled over at Burckhardt, then got a serious look on his face. "Mr. Burckhardt, can I ask you a question?"

"Bet I know what it is. How did I manage to become homeless?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well, I got hurt pretty bad about six years back – got gored by a bull. The insurance paid for the medical bills but not my rent."

Matt nodded and then had an idea. "Do you think you would be interested in a job at my ranch?"

Burckhardt's eyes lit up. "Are you serious?"

"Yes, sir I am. I just hired the Hoffmann brothers this morning but I'm looking for one more cowboy that I know I can count on. Are you the one?"

"I sure am. And don't be calling me sir. I'm just old Ollie." He held out his hand to Matt.

"Now wait a minute, don't you want to hear the deal?"

"Okay, what is it?"

"Free room and board, full insurance coverage, and $50,000 a year. Deal?"

"Deal." The two men shook on it. "Sorry, Mr. Desmond - looks like you need to find someone else to take care of the parking lot."

Desmond grinned. "That's okay you do what's best for you. I knew something good would come along for you." He shook Ollie's hand.

"Now, if we can just find Clarence…" Matt got up from the table. "I'm going to go check out the five tree trimming companies and see what I can come up with." He looked back at Ollie. "Can you start tomorrow?"

"Sure can. But uh…where is it?" He laughed.

"Tell you what…how about I swing by here when I get done with the …no, wait a minute. Why don't you go ahead with me, you might be able to spot the two men from the van, then I can just take you on when we get done. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, I just need to get my stuff…and what about Clarence's stuff?"

Desmond spoke up. "I can hold it here for him. We could leave a note and let him know where it is in case he comes back."

"That sure would be a big help. I'd like to thank you, Mr. Desmond."

"Congratulations, Ollie, I know you're going to be okay now."

After swinging by the alley and picking up Ollie's belongings, he and Matt started going around checking out the tree trimming services. Unfortunately, most of the crews were out. Ollie didn't see the two men from the alleyway.

On the way back to the ranch, Matt made a detour to the properties located on the other side of the river from his ranch. He knew some of the owners of the properties, but not all. Some had houses built on them while others were just hayfields. He didn't see anything that would have made the noise that he and CJ had heard the day before and left just as puzzled as he had been before he came to check it out.

When he made it back to the ranch, Matt dropped Ollie off at the bunkhouse. As he pulled in at the back of the main house an idea came to him. He pulled out his phone and dialed Chuck's number. "Hey pard, do you think you would be able to run a check for me? Yeah, could you check and see if any of these tree trimming services own a 2003 model Chevy work van? Okay." He waited for the deputy to grab a pencil, then rattled off the names to him. "Yeah, I'd sure appreciate it. No, he hasn't shown back up yet, but listen to this: I knew yesterday that I had seen Ollie Burckhardt before and I found out where: he used to be a bullfighter, ya know, rodeo clown? He's the one that helped me out that time up in Amarillo when I got hung up on that bull. Yeah! So I offered him a job here at the ranch. I also hired the Hoffmann brothers. Sure I still want you to help with the fencing when you've got a day off. Okay, bud, I'll talk to you later."

He stood up and stretched then walked on into the kitchen. After pouring himself a cup of coffee he took off looking for CJ. He didn't have to go far. She was in the study finishing up the contracts. "Can you do one more of those? Same deal and everything for Ollie Burckhardt."

CJ looked at him. "Ollie Burckhardt?"

Matt grinned. "Yep, I knew yesterday that I had seen him somewhere else before and we got to talking this morning." He told her who Ollie was and her jaw dropped.

"Wow! He really did save your life, Matt. I don't think you really had any idea how bad that was."

"The hell I didn't! I was the one out there flopping like a handkerchief in a tornado!" He was still grinning ear to ear.

"Well, that's great news. Will he start tomorrow as well?"

"Yep, matter of fact he's down at the bunkhouse right now." He walked around the desk and pulled her into a kiss. "Now, if I can find Clarence…"


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER 8**

Since Madre Rosa was off, Matt decided it would be a good night to take CJ out to dinner. "So where would you like to go, my lady?" He had his arms wrapped around her and had been tormenting her with kisses.

"Oh, I don't know, Mexican food sounds good. What do you think?" Her hands were around his neck and she was playing with the curls there.

"Tell you what; we can go to La Bandera. That sound okay to you?"

"Sounds great. Let me make a pit stop first. Your son won't quit sitting on my bladder." She wandered off to the bathroom.

"When our daughter is born I'll have a word with her about it." He snickered, turned off the coffee pot and made sure the doors were locked. He was waiting in the kitchen for CJ. They made their way out to the truck and took off for the restaurant.

They got out of the truck and started inside when they heard raised voices. Matt knew one of them was Frank Desmond. "I don't care who you are or think you are, Shackleford. This is my place – I worked hard to get it and I'm not about to sell out to you or anybody else. Now leave!"

After helping CJ to get seated Matt walked over to the counter where he saw Rosita standing wide-eyed and scared. "What's going on?"

She jumped when she heard his voice. "Oh, Houston, it's so good to see you! That man that's bothering Mr. Desmond – he's Paul Shackleford. He owns a bunch of property around the area and has been after Mr. Desmond for a year to sell this place to him. He's also running for state senate and thinks he's the greatest thing since sliced bread."

"It sure sounds like that." Matt walked on back toward the kitchen where he could still hear the two men arguing. "Frank, do you need a little help back here?" He walked on into the back. Shackleford turned to see who was interrupting his tirade.

"And just who the hell do you think you are coming in here interrupting a business meeting?"

"Sounds more like a press conference for a boxing match than a business meeting." Matt stood his ground.

"You need to leave – NOW!" Shackleford stepped toward Matt and poked him in the chest with his index finger.

"Look pal, I don't know who the hell you think you are, but this is Frank's place – not yours. If anybody needs to leave it's you. Now get your finger off of me before it ends being snapped off and shoved up your nose – got it?" Matt's voice had taken on the very quiet, gravelly, deep tone that came out when he was extremely angry.

Shackleford evidently wasn't used to anyone standing up to him – as is the case with most bullies – and he pointed at Desmond. "We'll discuss this at a more suitable time." He gave Matt a look of disdain and stalked past him, right on out of the front door.

"Thanks for helping out, Houston. I swear, he thinks he owns the whole damn county."

"Not a problem, Frank." He turned and started back out to the dining room.

"Did you need some more help looking for Clarence?" Frank followed him on out.

"No, as a matter of fact I'm a customer tonight." He walked on over and sat down next to CJ and Frank had a seat across from them.

"I'm sorry for the disturbance – he just won't leave me alone."

"Sounds like you could use a restraining order. I can help you with that if you like." CJ had heard every word that had been said – as had everyone else in the restaurant.

"It would probably just cause more trouble. He's running for state senate and has a gaggle of lawyers working for him."

"Bet they aren't as smart or as good looking as my lawyer." Matt put his arm around CJ's shoulders.

"I don't doubt that. They're probably all middle-aged weaselly looking goons." He cracked up, then his expression turned serious. "I've got more than one reason to have a beef with him. He's bought up a lot of property around this area and is doing his best to have the homeless folks arrested and locked up. Now I'm not stupid: not all of the homeless folks are fine upstanding citizens. But then neither is the rest of the world. But a lot of them are just down on their luck – like Ollie. I've never seen anybody take as much pride in their job as him. But Shackleford is convinced they all should just magically disappear."

A sudden thought struck Matt. "Does he own the property where Ollie and Clarence were living?"

"Yeah, as a matter of fact he just bought it last week - the whole strip of neighborhood right there."

Matt looked at CJ. "Do you think he could have anything to do with Clarence disappearing?"

"I don't know. We don't have any proof. Just because he bought the property…" She stopped. "But he's a larger than life size jerk…it does make you wonder." None of the three of them said anything.

"I believe I'll be doing some checking on the illustrious Mr. Paul Shackleford." Matt scratched his moustache with his thumb and thought about how he wanted to approach this new problem.

As he and CJ talked over their dinner of chili rellenos, they covered a lot of subjects, from the baby, to the new cattle that would be put on the ranch in the upcoming weeks, and even how much they missed Chris and Uncle Roy.

Once they were back at home, Matt hit the shower, then CJ decided to take a bubble bath. While he was waiting on her to go to bed, he pulled out his laptop and started researching Paul Shackleford. He was fast becoming the largest land owner in the county, for that matter, in the state. He had political aspirations and was running on a platform of creating jobs and improving the infrastructure of the state, all of which Matt considered well and good, but at what cost? He had been quoted on several occasions referring to the homeless population as the "lice and vermin" of the world. As he sat there and continued his search, Matt had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that Shackleford might well have something to do with the disappearance of Clarence.

Then another thought occurred to him. He looked through his list of tree trimming services and there it was: Shackleford Tree Trimming. Matt then started a search through the Texas Secretary of State's website and found out that Paul Shackleford was indeed a part owner of the company. The logo for the company was one of the ones that Ollie had picked out as a possible match to the van. Matt looked at the clock. It was 9:30. He picked up the phone and called Chuck. "Hey, hope it's not too late to call you."

"No, I was just sitting here stuffing ice cream in my mouth." Chuck laughed. "I was going to call you back earlier about the tree trimming companies and I got pulled into working a drug bust."

"Well, let me ask you this: was the Shackleford Tree Trimming service one that had a 2003 Chevy work van?" He held his breath.

"Yeah, it was. How in the hell did you know?" Chuck put down his bowl and spoon.

"I ran into the illustrious Paul Shackleford this evening – and I sure as hell wasn't impressed." He told Chuck about the problem at the restaurant.

"I'll be…" He got up and took the phone out onto the front porch. "Are you kidding me?"

"Nope. As CJ put it – and I quote – "a larger than life size jerk"."

"That girl always did have a way with words. Man, if he's in on this disappearance it's gonna be a bombshell."

"What I'm wondering is if there are even more that we don't know about?" Matt closed the laptop as CJ came out of the bathroom.

"Wow. Okay, well keep me in the loop and let me know if you need more help. I'll keep my ears open."

Matt said goodnight and hung up the phone, continuing to sit on the side of the bed in thought.

"What's going on?" CJ walked over and sat down beside him. He let her in on what he had found out. "Oh boy, that sounds awful coincidental. Too coincidental in fact."

Matt nodded his head. "I think the Hoffmann boys will be working without Ollie and me tomorrow. Looks like I've got a big fish to hook."


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER 9**

Thursday morning was a little cloudy and a lot humid. The weather forecasters were calling for a chance storms later in the day. Matt had gotten up early in order to talk with the Hoffmann brothers and Ollie and get them signed up and working. When he got to the kitchen Rosa had a plate of sausage biscuits ready and waiting.

He was in the kitchen at 7:00 talking to Rosa when they came to the back door. Matt motioned them on in and had a pot of coffee ready as well as the three contracts and a pen. "How are you fellas doing this morning?" He handed the plate of biscuits to Ollie and they were passed on around the table.

"Pretty good, but I'm starting to think the weather isn't going to want to cooperate with us on these fences today." Marty sat down at the table across from Houston and took the cup of coffee that he offered.

"Well, I tell you what. Have you boys decided what colors you want for the bunkhouse?" Matt thought they might need to get that work done today since anything outdoors didn't look like a good prospect.

"Marty and me were talking about that last night. We thought maybe a light blue would be good." Pat had spoken up for the group on the subject. The other two men nodded.

"Alright then, I tell you what. I'm going to need Ollie to help me with a case I'm working on involving a friend of his who is missing. Why don't you two go into town, find the paint and look at carpeting. If we do the painting first we don't have to worry about getting it on the carpet, ya know?"

"Sounds like a plan. Ollie, what are your thoughts on the carpet?" Marty looked over at the man who until the night before had been homeless.

Ollie looked up at Matt and chuckled. "Any color is fine with me. It won't bother me one bit."

Matt smiled at him. "Alright then, I'll put you two in charge of that. Find out how much you're going to need, and figure out how much paint." He pulled out his wallet and handed Marty a charge card. "If you'll go to Wilson's Hardware for the paint you won't have any trouble using this card. I talked to them yesterday and got everything set up."

"Alright then. Say, do you know who this fella is that you hired yesterday?" Pat put a hand on Ollie's shoulder.

"Yeah, I sure do. He's the man that saved my butt over in Amarillo when I got hung up riding a bull several years back." He and Ollie exchanged a smile.

"Well, I tell you what. Not to brag, but with Ollie and the two of us, we ought to have one hell of a ranch going here." Pat was smiling broadly.

"That's the whole idea, fellas. I'll tell you the truth. I had thought about selling this place." Matt looked around the kitchen. "But I just can't bring myself to do it. So I thought if I started running cows on here again, it could pay for itself."

The other three men nodded their head. "We'll do our best for you, Houston, you know that." Marty held out his hand to his new boss and they all shook hands. The Hoffmann brothers headed out to measure the bunkhouse, and Matt went upstairs and kissed CJ goodbye before going down and loading up in the truck with Ollie.

As they headed toward town, Matt explained what had happened at the restaurant the night before and what he had found out about Shackleford. Ollie was dumbfounded. "Well if he isn't behind Clarence disappearing I'll eat my hat. And you know, I've heard about some other folks disappearing." He told Matt the area that they had lived in and the pair went there hoping to find someone to talk to about it. Ollie spotted a woman that he knew and Matt stopped the truck. She almost took off running until she recognized Ollie's face.

"Oh my goodness, I thought it was those other fellas at first. I'm so glad to see you Ollie." Monica Freeman had had a hard time of it on the streets and the years had not been kind to her. Ollie introduced her to Matt and explained what they were doing there. She eyed Matt a little suspiciously. Ollie told Houston that they needed to talk privately and he got back into the truck to wait. He watched Monica and knew that life had been hard on her; he really couldn't blame her for feeling skittish.

"This guy is okay, Monica. He's helping me to find Ollie and I told him about some other folks that are missing and he wants to help with them, too."

"But why, Ollie? Why in the hell would he care about us?" She just couldn't believe that anyone would want to help.

"Because he's one of the good guys. And he's also my new boss." Ollie smiled and told her about Matt hiring him to work on the ranch.

"So you've got a place now?" Monica was surprised as Ollie nodded. "That's great! Okay, I'll talk to him."

They walked back over to the truck and Ollie motioned for Matt to get out. He brought out the laptop with him and showed her the logo and the model of van. She nodded. "That's it, exactly. They've been through here several times. I always disappear when I see them – whenever anybody goes away with them they never come back." Tears glistened in her eyes. Ollie patted her on the shoulder.

"Well Miss Freeman, we're doing our best to catch them." He reached in his pocket for one of his business cards and wrote the house phone number on the back. "If you see them again or hear anything that might help us find your friends, call me, okay? Anytime." He handed it over to her. "Ollie, put the number for the bunkhouse on there, too, just in case." Ollie wrote it on there and handed it to her. She gave him a hug and shook Matt's hand.

"I guess you're okay after all. I'm sorry about earlier…"

"No need to be. I understand. You take care, you hear?" With that he and Ollie loaded up in the truck and headed on to another area where people had been disappearing. As they rode down through the alley there was no one to be seen.

"Houston, there used to be fifteen to twenty people living down here. Now there isn't anybody." Ollie was shocked.

Matt nodded grimly. "I've got to tell you, I'm not feeling real good about this, bud." The two men exchanged looks.

"Tell you what; let's go check out the Shackleford Tree Trimming service. Maybe put a bug in their ear, so to speak." He smiled, and Ollie was left wondering just exactly what he meant.


	10. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER 10**

When Matt had headed down to Texas from California, out of habit he had packed several of what he liked to refer to as critters. They were tiny little surveillance bugs, some equipped with cameras and microphones, and some that were just tracking devices. He had worked with computer mogul Derwin Dunlap on them and they had just hit the market and had proven to be extremely handy to Matt on several cases that he had worked.

Arriving at the tree trimming service, Matt noticed that some of the work crews were obviously already gone. But sitting right in front of the office door was a work van that matched the description that Ollie had given him. He pointed it out to him and the man agreed that it looked exactly like the one that he had seen. They sat on the street watching for a few minutes as crews continued to get the equipment ready and rolled out to various jobs. When the parking lot was almost empty, Matt walked up behind the van and stuck one of his critters behind the license plate, then went back to the truck and they pulled off. He parked on the street a short distance away and brought out the laptop, activating the bug. Ollie watched in fascination as a little green dot appeared on the screen. When the van started out of the parking lot, the dot began to move. Matt looked over and smiled at him. "Houston, I gotta say – I'm impressed."

They followed the van, not wanting to get too close. Evidently the driver was an estimator for the company and they followed it for a while without being seen or seeing anything incriminating. Matt parked the truck in a department store parking lot while the driver of the van stopped at a convenience store. "You said they picked up Clarence not long before dark, right?"

"Yeah." Ollie looked over at him.

"I've got a feeling we're not going to get too far following this guy right now. I think we should wait until later on." He started the truck and pulled out, headed back to the ranch. "It would seem to me that whoever is picking these folks up isn't doing it on the clock, know what I mean?"

Ollie nodded. He looked out the passenger side window and then looked over at Matt. "I don't think we're going to find Clarence alive – and I've got a feeling that you think the same thing."

Matt hesitated. "After twenty four hours a trail begins to go cold. To be honest with you, it's not looking real good." Neither one said anything for a minute. "But you can't give up hope. I've had cases where it took me a while to track someone down and they were still alive."

Burckhardt nodded. "You know, at the rodeo, even if I wasn't working I would pay attention when you rode. There were, and still are, a lot of good cowboys out there. But when you rode – it was like you had something to prove. You were completely focused on it. Some of 'em were just there to impress the girls – but not you."

Matt grinned. "No, I was too busy trying not to get killed to worry about the girls right then – but now afterwards, that was a different story." He laughed.

"I sure never thought you would end up being a private eye. Last I had heard you were working with your dad."

"I did for a while. Then he and I kind of had a few disagreements – about offshore oil rigs for one thing. He wanted me to run the ones that he had off the California coast. But I never cared for them. They are dangerous as hell and the environmental costs in my opinion are just too high. If folks spent more time trying to come up with a way to make them safer – not just for the employees but for the habitat – I would have jumped on them. But they didn't so I didn't, and I ended up going into business for myself and then opened the detective agency. Eventually I got rid of pretty much everything else."

"Well I gotta say you aren't like most rich folks."

Matt grinned. "I hope that's a good thing."

"Yep. You aren't all uppity – like Shackleford for instance." Ollie shook his head. "That man is just pure evil as far as I'm concerned."

Houston nodded his agreement and they were quiet all the way back to the ranch. When Matt pulled in front of the bunkhouse the bottom dropped out and the rain poured. He and Ollie walked inside and looked around. The Hoffmann brothers had started prepping the building for painting. "Looking good in here guys." Matt walked on through. "Boy I can remember a few poker games I got into down here as a teenager." He grinned. "Learned a lot." Picking up a broom, he started cleaning down cobwebs and sweeping up dust. By the time it was twelve o'clock the four of them had accomplished a good bit of work. Just then they heard a voice at the front door.

"Yoo-hoo, y'all in here?" It was CJ, coming in the door loaded down with sandwiches and chips. "Matt, there's some lemonade out there if you would be so kind as to bring it in."

"Yes ma'am." He walked out and pulled it out of the trunk of the car that she had brought down. "You should have hollered at me, I would have taken care of this for you." Matt leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Fellas, I'm not sure if y'all have met my wife CJ. CJ this is Marty and Pat Hoffmann." They shook hands with her.

"Thanks for bringing the lunch, we sure appreciate it." Marty had pulled out a roll of paper towels and they all plopped down in the common area of the bunkhouse to feast on the lunch.

"No problem. I saw Matt when he pulled in and figured y'all were hard at work so I thought I would help you out a little bit." She looked around. "This old place is looking pretty good."

Matt and the other men continued working on the bunkhouse. About 2:30 he looked at his watch. "Ollie, I think we might ought to head back toward town. I'm sure the work crews didn't get much done today, but the fella in the van probably didn't have too much trouble giving estimates." The older cowboy agreed and they got in the truck and headed for town. They pulled into a parking lot near the tree service and Matt pulled out the laptop. "Looks like the van is headed back this way." In a couple of minutes it passed right by them and pulled into the parking lot.

Ollie sat up straighter when he saw the man who had been driving. "That's one of the guys, Houston. He's the one that was wearing the chartreuse shirt."

"Good. Maybe now we'll make some progress." They sat and waited. At about 4:00, the employees started filtering out of the building, but not Mr. Chartreuse Shirt as Matt had started calling him. They continued to wait and about 4:30 when the parking lot was nearly empty, a car pulled in and a man got out.

"That's the other one!" Ollie was on the edge of his seat. They watched. A few minutes later the man came back out with Mr. Chartreuse Shirt and they started out in the van. Three of the trucks towing chipper machines pulled out and left the parking lot and turned in the opposite direction of the van. Matt and Ollie followed the van discreetly and parked at the end of an alley that was adjacent to some of the property that Paul Shackleford had recently purchased. The two men got out of the van and approached a man who appeared to be homeless. "That's Gus Whittaker. He lives down here." Ollie was keeping a close eye on him. He talked to the two men for a minute then got into the van with them. Matt and Ollie exchanged a glance and started following the van again.

The van got on the highway heading east toward Houston's ranch. It turned off on the road that ran on the other side of the river. Matt's stomach began to churn. He had just had an idea and was hoping that he was wrong.

As the van pulled into the end of a gravel driveway leading into one of the hayfields, Matt slowed down. He waited a minute, then pulled into the driveway and could just see the van disappearing into the trees heading down toward the river. Following at a safe distance, he noticed that there were tracks of some heavy equipment. His stomach began to churn even more and he was pretty sure that his intuition was right on the money.

Matt stopped the truck about one hundred and fifty feet from the van and shut off the engine. He was partially hidden behind some trees and could see down into the woods that ran along the river. There lined up in a single file, were the three chipper machines that he had seen leaving the tree service earlier. "Ollie, you stay here, okay?" Matt got out of the truck and Ollie began to protest. "Look," Matt pulled out his cell phone and pushed a button, "Chuck will answer in just a minute. Tell him where we are and what's going on. Tell him we need some back up ASAP, got it? And you stay here." He turned toward the river and pulled the P30L pistol out of the back of his jeans and began to sneak down through the woods to the trucks. He could hear several voices, one of which sounded scared. _That must be Gus_ he thought to himself. As he got closer he could hear the sounds of a scuffle. Crouching down in front of the van, Matt snuck a peek around it: there were six men pushing Gus around in a circle, punching and hitting him as he was pushed in each man's direction. Matt thought for a minute: he had the element of surprise and he also had a pistol. Hopefully none of the six men were armed. He duck walked across the front of the van and carefully slipped along the passenger side until he was almost to the back of it. Then he heard the chippers start up. It was nearly deafening but he could hear Gus screaming above the sounds of the machinery. As he came around the end of the van, Matt saw all six of the men pick up Gus and walk with him towards the first chipper. He took a big breath and stepped out from behind the van. "HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" All of the men jumped. Three of them let go of Gus and started toward Matt. "I SAID HOLD IT! DON'T MOVE!" They stopped in their tracks, evidently having just noticed the gun. The man who had been driving the van yelled. "It's one guy, for Christ's sake! Take him out!" As the three continued on toward Matt, he fired a warning shot at the ground in front of them. Two of them stopped and put their hands up, but not the third. He dove at Matt who sidestepped and shot him in the lower leg, then turned towards the others. The van driver had Gus by his shoulders and was attempting to throw him into the chipper.

"DOWN ON THE GROUND – NOW!" Matt yelled at the rest of the men. After seeing one of their own take a bullet, they had decided to cooperate and did as they were told. But Mr. Chartreuse shirt was still attempting to throw Gus into the machine. Matt leveled his pistol on the man as he had Gus on the edge of the chipper. As he started to push, Matt slowly squeezed the trigger, hitting the man in the side. He dropped like a sack of concrete, his hand trying to cover a now widening spot of blood on the chartreuse shirt. Gus had stumbled back toward the van.

"Gus, go up to my truck on the other side of the trees. Tell Ollie to bring down the rope that's in the back, okay?" The older man nodded and took off through the trees and in short order was back down beside Matt. "Ollie, think you remember how to truss up some steers?" Matt gave the old cowboy a grin as he and Gus started to work tying up the men who had tried to kill him.

Chuck and three other deputies came pulling down by Matt's truck several minutes later with sirens blaring. They got out, weapons drawn and came down to the riverside. When they discovered that the men were tied up, they holstered their pistols and slowed down. "Houston, you just can't seem to stay out of trouble, can you?" Chuck walked up next to his friend. He looked over at Ollie and Gus. "You fellas okay?" Both men nodded and Gus began telling the deputy about how the six men had tried to throw him in the chipper. Matt had walked down and was looking at the machines. The way they were arranged, whatever was thrown into the chipper at the back would have been blown into the next chipper and then the last one, resulting in tiny pieces. The last chipper was aimed at the river. Noticing a scrap of material, Matt found a twig on the ground and pulled it out: it was black material with an ace of spades on it. They wouldn't be finding Clarence. Matt knelt down and looked in the water as Chuck walked up to him. "Oh, God, that's why the fish weren't biting." He had a sick look on his face that was reflected by Matt.

"Yep. Don't think I'm going to be eating any fish out of this water for a long time." Matt turned and headed back up toward his truck. He reached inside for his phone that Ollie had left on the seat and called CJ. "You aren't gonna believe this…"


	11. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER 11**

Matt was sitting in the recliner in the den watching the news. After questioning the men who had been at the river, the DA had offered them reduced sentences in return for their testimony: testimony that shed light on the methods that Paul Shackleford was using to get rid of the homeless people in the areas where he was buying up property. His reasons were twofold. First, the value of the property went up when there were no more homeless people in the area. Secondly, the reduction in homeless people made it look like Shackleford had given them jobs, thereby ending their problem of being homeless. It was a win-win situation for Shackleford; he was not only looking good in the eyes of the voters, but he was also making money hand over fist on all of the properties that he was acquiring.

As Shackleford was led away in handcuffs in front of the news cameras, Matt was sitting there still feeling sick to his stomach. The crime scene techs had been all over the chipper equipment. Evidently the men who operated the equipment for the disgraced politician weren't particularly fond of cleaning. DNA from fourteen different individuals had been found – so far. Chuck had called Matt a few minutes before and told him that the crime scene investigators were telling him that they might never know how many people had fallen victim to Shackleford – and he was refusing to talk.

CJ stood at the door to the den watching the news coverage and her husband. As tough as he was, Matt had a soft side and situations like this got to him. She walked in and climbed into his lap and he tilted the recliner back as he always did. Laying her head on his chest, she took his hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. "You helped a lot of people this week, Matt." He nodded but didn't say anything. She raised her head and looked at him. He had his eyes closed. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Matt opened his eyes and raised his hand to her face, gently tracing the curve of her cheek with his thumb. "I just wonder how many others won't ever be identified. And you have to wonder if there is anybody out there who is looking for them in the first place."

She nodded. "You can only do so much, Matt." He closed his eyes again and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close.


End file.
